Is America becoming the next France? Is
our political system becoming as polarized as that of the French Third and
Fourth Republics?
According to the late British political
scientist, Sir Bernard Crick, politics is the art of conciliating diversity peacefully
in a given unit of rule. Some political systems have done this better than
others. The U.S. is among the more successful in enabling people of varying
interests and viewpoints to get along within a common constitutional framework
commanding near universal loyalty.
Until recently the political parties themselves played a
role similar to that of the system as a whole. Yes, Democrats and Republicans
were opponents, but each party was a broad-based coalition of citizens with a
variety of commonalities—some economic, and some ideological, regional and
religious in character. Progressives and conservatives found a place in both
parties, coexisting willingly, if not always enthusiastically. Southerners
tended to vote Democratic, while northerners voted Republican. Different Christian
denominations were at home in each party as well: Catholics and Southern
Baptists supported the Democrats, and northern mainline and evangelical Protestants
the Republicans.
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